Browns: Chiefs' pass rush a big test for offensive line

By
Jeff Schudel, The Morning Journal & The News-Herald

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Browns offensive tackles Joe Thomas and Mitchell Schwartz will earn their money Sunday in Kansas City if they manage to keep quarterback Jason Campbell on his feet.
The Chiefs have the best pass rush in the NFL. The Browns’ pass protection? Not so much. The Browns rank 24th in sacks allowed per pass attempt.
Left outside linebacker Justin Houston leads the Chiefs with 10 sacks. He is Schwartz’s responsibility. Thomas will have to contend with Tamba Hali. He has nine sacks.
As a group, the Chiefs have 35 sacks in seven games. They are on pace for 80 sacks this season. The Ravens are second in the league with 25 sacks.
“I think the key has been just focusing on what we want to get done as a defense,” Hali said in a conference call from Kansas City. “The culture that Coach Sutton (defensive coordinator Bob Sutton) has brought in here, ‘playing like a Chief,’ always running to the ball, causing turnovers. Every man believes in what we want to get done. That’s been the difference.”
The Chiefs have made the biggest turnaround in the NFL this season under Coach Andy Reid. They were 2-14 in 2012. Now they are 7-0 and the only unbeaten team in the league. Reid is in his first year in Kansas City after 14 seasons in Philadelphia.
Sometimes a team can have a high sack total and not be very good. The Browns had 38 sacks in 2012 — better than 18 teams in the league. The Falcons had only 29 sacks, yet Atlanta was 13-3 and the Browns were 5-11 in 2012.
Kansas City’s sack numbers are legit. The Chiefs have the fifth-ranked defense, only two notches better than the Browns, but Kansas City is first in points allowed (81); the Browns are 17th. The Chiefs’ defense is first in third-down efficiency; the Browns are 29th. The Chiefs are first in red-zone defense, allowing only two touchdowns inside the 20. The Browns are 29th in that category as well.
“When they get leads, that’s when they get their sacks,” Thomas said. “They can dial up whatever blitz they want. The pass rushers aren’t worried about the run anymore. It’s loud. It’s built on a 3-4 scheme with exotic looks trying to bring pressure from all over the place and trying to get you to miss your protection and not block a linebacker or have their best pass rushers blocked by running backs.”
The Chiefs lead the NFL in takeaway-giveaway at plus-11. The Browns are tied for 17th at minus-1. The Chiefs are tied with Seattle for the league lead with 19 takeaways. The Browns have nine, which ties them for 22nd in takeaways.
So this is what Campbell is up against in his first start with the Browns. Head coach Rob Chudzinski’s last words of advice before sending Campbell onto the Arrowhead Stadium grass might be, “Have you updated your will since I named you the starter Wednesday?”
“Each and every week is a challenge, but Arrowhead is one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL,” Campbell said. “That means even more we need to be on the same page with our play calls and make sure everyone is hearing it and making sure we are all getting lined up correctly because it’s going to be hard to hear at times. When you go into a hostile environment like this, you have to make sure we’re together and keep our composure.”
The Browns were part of Kansas City’s misery index last season. The two teams met on Dec. 9 in Cleveland. The Chiefs scored on an 80-yard run by Jamaal Charles to start the game, and then the Browns scored 30 unanswered points. They followed that with three straight losses to end the season.
Campbell played for the Raiders in 2010-11 and started a total of 18 games in two seasons. The Chiefs do not have much recent film on Campbell because he started only one game with the Bears last year and sat in his first seven games with the Browns this season. He hasn’t played 16 games in a season since 2009 with the Redskins.
“He’s been in the league for a long time, so we know the type of player he is,” Hali said. “We just want to focus on what we want to get done in the game. Our coaches come in, and they install a lot of different things. It’s taxing on our mind, and we have to make sure we’re doing the right thing and the things they want us to do. Our focus is really that right now.”
Campbell played two games against the Chiefs while with the Raiders and one while with the Redskins. He was 2-1 and sacked 14 times in those three games.